The Inside of the Temple Is Furnished
(A Temple without an Idol)
The walls and floors
were overlaid with gold, and the beautiful altar was covered with gold. Golden
chairs formed a partition in front of the altar, and two golden angels
stretched their wings across the sacred inner room of the Temple, in which was
the sacred Ark.
When the outside walls of stone were built, the inside of the
Temple was lined with the sweet-scented cedar-wood, richly decorated with
carved flowers, and palm-trees and figures of angels.
1 Kings 6:15-28 Contemporary English
Version (CEV)
15 The floor of the temple was made out of pine, and the
walls were lined with cedar from floor to ceiling.
16 The most holy place was in the back of the temple, and
it was thirty feet square. Cedar boards standing from floor to ceiling
separated it from the rest of the temple.
17 The temple’s main room was sixty feet long, and it was
in front of the most holy place.
18 The inside walls were lined with cedar to hide the
stones, and the cedar was decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers.
19 The sacred chest was kept in the most holy place.
20-22 This room
was thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and thirty feet high, and it was lined
with pure gold. There were also gold chains across the front of the most holy
place. The inside of the temple, as well as the cedar altar in the most holy
place, was covered with gold.
23 Solomon had two statues of winged creatures made from
olive wood to put in the most holy place. Each creature was fifteen feet tall
24-26 and fifteen feet across. They had two wings, and the wings were seven and
a half feet long.
27 Solomon put them next to each other in the most holy place.
Their wings were spread out and reached across the room.
28 The creatures were also covered with gold.
Now the word of the LORD came to Solomon, "Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my ordinances and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel." So Solomon built the house, and finished it.
The feature that set apart the
Solomonic Temple from other Temples in the ancient world is that there was no
idol in it. It contained only the Mercy Seat over the Ark and the
Cherubim overshadowing
the Mercy Seat. This declared to the world that idols are unnecessary for God
to be present. The God of Israel was not localized in any sense. Neither
was He bound to any other form such as the Ark. The Temple therefore was not
necessary because of God's nature. He did not need it. One thousand years later,
the first Christian martyr, Stephen, said to an unruly crowd:
...Solomon built God a house.
However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the
prophet says: "Heaven is My throne, and the earth is my footstool. What
house will you build for Me? says the Lord or what is the place of My
rest? Has not My hand made all these things?" (Acts 7:47-50,
quoting Isaiah 66:1-2).
The Temple was built to meet the
limitations and needs of God's people. It emphasized the way of salvation to
those who asked His forgiveness and represented the believer’s assurance of the
grace of God for their joy and blessing. (1 Kings 8:27-30).
But will God indeed dwell on the
earth? "Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain thee; how
much less this house which I have built!" (V. 27)
The Temple also symbolized the hearing ear of God:
Yet regard the prayer of Your
servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the
prayer which Your servant is praying before You today: that Your eyes may be
open toward this temple night and day toward the place of which You said, "My
name shall be there," and that You may hear the prayer which Your servant
makes toward this place. (1 Kings 8:28-29).
It was also a place of refuge for the stranger:
Moreover, concerning a foreigner,
who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for Your
name's sake. (for they will hear of Your great name and Your strong hand and
Your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this temple, hear in
heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner
calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as
do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have
built is called by your name (1 Kings 8: 4143).
The Temple is the house of prayer for all people where
all nations of the earth should fear God:
Even them I will bring to My
holy mountain, and make them joyful in My House of prayer. Their burnt
offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall
be called a house of prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56:7).
And Solomon overlaid the
inside of the house with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across, in front
of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. And he overlaid the whole
house with gold, until the entire house was finished. Also the whole altar that
belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold. In the inner sanctuary
he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. Five cubits was the
length of one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the length of the other wing
of the cherub; it was ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the
other. The other cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same
measure and the same form. The height of one cherub was ten cubits and so was
that of the other cherub. He put the cherubim in the innermost part of the
house; and the wings of the cherubim were spread out so that a wing of one
touched the one wall, and a wing of the other cherub touched the other wall;
their other wings touched each other in the middle of the house. And he
overlaid the cherubim with gold.
He carved all the walls of the
house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open
flowers, in the inner and outer rooms. The floor of the house he overlaid with
gold in the inner and outer rooms. For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he
made doors of olive wood; the lintel and the doorposts formed a pentagon. He
covered the two doors of olive wood with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and
open flowers; he overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubim and
upon the palm trees. So also he made for the entrance to the nave doorposts of
olive wood, in the form of a square, and two doors of cypress wood; the two
leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were
folding. On them he carved cherubim and palm trees and open
flowers; and he overlaid them with gold evenly applied upon the carved work. He
built the inner court with three courses of hewn stone and one course of cedar
beams. In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid, in
the month of Ziv. And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth
month, the house was finished in all its parts, and according to all its
specifications. He was seven years in building it.
Playwright Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/President/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts
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